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Ukraine. In its latest defense intelligence update, the ministry said Russian troops had sustained heavy losses in their Donbas offensive and that "under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days." The ministry assessed that the offensive has "fallen significantly behind schedule. Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month, despite small-scale initial advances, while sustaining consistently high attrition numbers. Russia has now likely suffered the loss of one-third of its ground combat force it committed in February," the ministry added on Sunday. A UK intelligence assessment said delays in Russian operations will "almost certainly be exacerbated by the loss of critical combat enablers such as bridging equipment and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones."
Austria does not support Ukraine's quick accession to the EU. Austrian Minister for EU Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Karoline Edtstadler said that Ukraine's accession to the EU cannot be achieved "in the next five to ten years," reported Euractiv. Recently, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg invited Ukraine to consider other ways to move closer to the EU other than membership. According to Edtstadler, Ukraine's full accession process would be "a long adaptation process, which cannot be achieved in the next five to ten years, as some states in the Western Balkans have been waiting decades for the next step." She added that there could be no accelerated procedure for Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court has sent Ukraine the largest group of investigators in history. On Tuesday, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said that he had sent a team of 42 investigators, forensic experts, and support staff to Ukraine to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity. "I can confirm that today my office has sent a team of 42 investigators, forensic experts, and support staff to Ukraine to advance our investigations into crimes under the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction and support the Ukrainian national authorities. This is my office’s largest field deployment since the moment of its creation," said Khan.
ZelenskIy supports petition to introduce visas for Russians. A total of 26,742 votes have been collected for the petition, with 25,000 being the required minimum. Despite Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, it has formally kept visa-free travel with Russia until now.
Ukraine's full EU membership might take 15 or 20 years. French Minister for European Affairs Clement Bonn believes that the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union may take up to 20 years, reported LeFigaro.fr. "You have to be honest... If we say that Ukraine will join the EU in 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years, we are lying. This is not true. It is probably 15 or 20 years, and it is very long," Bon said. He added, "I don't want Ukrainians to be sold illusions and lies. If we say to Ukrainians, 'Welcome to the EU,' but you didn't read in the treaty, in the footnote, 'Hello, it's 15 years from now,' I think there will be a disappointment for a whole generation of the Ukrainian people.”
Russian troops attempt to break through Ukrainian border into Sumy Oblast. Russian troops used mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns,
11 UKRAINE Country Report XXXX 2018 www.intellinews.com